National Assembly of Serbia (BETAPHOTO/ANA SLOVIC)
Providing a rationale for the 2024 Budget Bill, Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali said to Serbian MPs on Oct. 23 that his cabinet had prepared a development budget, involving not only large-scale capital investments, but also pay- and pension increases aimed at improving the standard of living.
As he put it, the projected growth rate for 2024 was 3.5 percent, bringing the gross domestic product (GDP) to EUR74 billion, and the public debt to 51.7 percent of GDP.
"The Budget Bill foresees that, starting Jan. 1, 2024, pensions in Serbia will increase by 14.8 percent, public sector salaries will add 10 percent, and the minimum wage 17.8 percent, amounting to RSD47,154 dinars, the largest increase in the minimum wage percentage-wise ever," he said.
The finance minister added that the projected inflation for the next year was between four and five percent, and 598.8 billion dinars, or 6.8 percent of GDP, had been earmarked for capital investments.
Mali also promised healthcare investments to reach a record level of RSD545 billion, adding that investments in agriculture would be the largest ever, reaching RSD118 billion. The minister also explained that generous budget allocations had been planned for ecology and culture as well.
The minster also said that he expected a large number of corporate bonds to be issued by companies as of Jan. 1, 2024, and that the state would bear the cost of issuing them.
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